


Knitting

by happysoulmentality



Series: Joe Things [1]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Airplane, Baseball, F/M, Fluff, Knitting, a mention of adult activities, i may have gotten a little distracted thinking about them, instagram goals, just kisses, there's a moment with hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 12:28:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18073400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happysoulmentality/pseuds/happysoulmentality
Summary: You make a Joe a gift while flying





	Knitting

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to daughter-of-ophelia for the request (on tumblr)! I hope this was worth the wait! I certainly enjoyed writing it. Also a huge thank you to my beta and PSM mollymarymarie (ilysm 🖤) Without further ado, I give you Joe fluff.

It all started on Pinterest.

You needed something to do on your long flight to Anaheim, so you looked for easy projects on Pinterest. That was mistake #1.

You looked to your left and let out a sigh at the sight of auburn hair fluffed up from being pressed against the window of the plane.

Joe was always able to read or sleep or watch a movie. You envied him. But reading made you feel sick if you tried to focus for too long, movies were never long enough and strained your eyes, and sleep never came easy when you were surrounded by so many strangers.

Whoever said that you could knit a hat in two hours was LYING. You should have two cute hats by the time you landed, one for you and one for Joe. You’d planned a lovely deep green beanie for him (it just went too well with his pale complexion and auburn hair) and a sweet cream for yourself (it went with almost every outfit you packed, plus who doesn’t love neutral colors).

But your hands were being dumb, so dumb. Why was it so hard to hold these needles? And how tf did she cast on so many stitches so quickly? This video was not helping you at all. The article with descriptions and pictures wasn’t helping either. You snapped.

“Babe, wake up.”  

“mmm. Wha?”

“Take some of this from me. I’m about to throw it,”

“What? Why?” Joe’s brain was still catching up to his current situation. You were honestly amazed at how deeply he could be asleep in under thirty minutes, possibly even a little jealous.

“Take this,” you basically threw a skein of cream-colored yarn at him, “and hold it before I yeet it down the aisle.”

“Okay. But maybe I should take the needles instead?” He rested his hand over your wrist to keep the knitting needles in your lap. “You know, because they’re pointy and can damage someone.” He slid his hand down and took them from your grasp.

“I mean, I guess they could hurt someone if I threw them hard enough,” you rolled your eyes and looked out the window, “but they’re so light I doubt I could get any real distance.”

“Whatever you say, champ.” He moved the yarn and needles to the side farthest from you and began to rub soothing circles on your knee. “I just think that we shouldn’t maim anyone on the flight.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you grumbled. “Well, now that you’re awake, you can help me.”

“And I will, but maybe first we calm down a little?” He quickly lifted the arm rest between you and then opened his arms for you to snuggle into.

You were hesitant, but you did take him up on the offer. After just a few seconds of having your face pressed against his chest, you felt less like screaming and throwing things and more like giving the project a second chance. Even with the new found calm you had, you weren’t exactly ready to let go of Joe. The reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat and the comforting smell of him, of home, were too hard to give up when you were frustrated.

A few minutes later, Joe kissed the top of your head. “Mkay, are you ready to try again?”

You just nodded, with your face still pressed to his chest. Slowly, you sat yourself back up in your seat and held out your hands. “I’m ready and I promise I won’t throw anything.”

With pursed lips and a quirked eyebrow, Joe handed back both the yarn and needles. “Only if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, but I still need your help with this one. I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong.” You slid down in your chair and let your knees rest firmly against the seat in front of you. “I don’t get how I can crochet no problem, but attempt this and suddenly it’s like I don’t know what yarn is.”

Joe just looked at you with his same pout. It was almost like he was trying to decide what would be worse: learning how to knit with you or listening to you rant for at least another hour. Eventually, he extended his hand, “Phone, please.”

You handed it over with the infuriating video still pulled up. Joe watched in an almost uncharacteristic silence for a few moments, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Okay, you come here,” he lifted the arm closest to you, “and put your back to my chest. I’ve got an idea.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. How on Earth could he have an idea about helping you knit that required him to hold you?

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quit giving me that look and just get over here.” He motioned with his hands for you to make your move or continue pouting.

With a roll of your eyes, you caved and settled into his embrace.

“So, according to the video,” he reached towards your hand that held the yarn and one needle, “we have to cast on so many stitches and then we can actually do the stitch and all the dropping and what not.”

You just nodded and let him guide your hands while he talked you through the whole process. It was surprising how his hands moved with such grace through a process he’d never attempted before. The creamy yarn seemed to pass over, under, and through his, and your, hands quickly. The movements were mesmerizing to watch, and the warmth and assurance in his embrace only added to the fogging of your mind. Before you knew it, it was time to cast off and finish the first hat.

“It looks wonderful, baby. Will you try it on to show me?” Joe whispered into your ear, mindful of the other passengers that had nodded off during the long flight.

“Yeah, just give me a second to arrange it correctly.” You murmured back, finally being pulled from the warm and fuzzy feeling of watching the yarn move through your combined hands.

The hat had turned out wonderfully for a first attempt. It seemed to be very flexible and thick enough to keep the wind out of your ears. Thankfully, it was your hat and not Joe’s so you could improve your technique.

You slipped it onto your head, mindful of your hair, you didn’t want to mess up your part for the rest of the day, and began fixing its position. It seemed to take forever for it to feel right on your head, but when it finally did, you double checked it with your phone’s camera. You’d actually managed to get it to sit just right in the front with a decent slouch in the back.

Joe waited expectantly for you to face him again.

“There’s my girl.”

His eyes softened as he took you in, his  umber colored eyes taking on a slightly burnt, yet soft, color. He couldn’t help but smile at you. “You look quite cozy in that. Almost too cozy. I wanna try it.”

“Mkay. Hold, please.” You took the creation off of your head and carefully placed it on Joe, making sure to run your fingers through his hair before positioning it just right.

“You look absolutely dashing, babe. Let me take a pic.”

Joe struck a pose (one hand on his head, the other on his hip, sticking it out as best he could while sitting), and then another (pouting while sticking out his tongue and crossing his arms), and another (so many more, the man is a master at ridiculous poses) until the two of you were a giggling mess in your seats and you had at least 20 new pictures in your gallery of the two of you in various stages of wearing your hat.

* * *

Joe had fallen back asleep shortly after our photoshoot, still wearing your hat. He did look very cute in it, but it was just a touch too snug around his forehead. Something to keep in mind for the one your were about to begin working on.

You started the video again, just to refresh your mind over what the process should look like. There was a phantom feeling of arms around you and hands guiding yours as you lost yourself in the trancework of knitting yet again. Since, you only had one set of hands to watch this time, your mind decided to wander.

It made its way back to the first time Joe had watched you crochet.

You had been working on a new afghan to conveniently leave at his place, how he lived with it that cold you would never understand. Joe was busy watching the Yankees game. Which, although you loved baseball, you could never cheer for that particular team (you did, however, concede to not cheer against them unless they were playing your team). So, you decided to keep your hands busy and your eyes off the screen.

“What are you doing?” Joe looked over at you while supporting his chin with his hand.

“Making myself a blanket.”

“Why?” He furrowed his brows.

“Because you keep this place an ungodly temperature, Joseph. Aren’t you supposed to be watching the game?” The Yankees were playing your number two team, so you technically couldn’t cheer against them, but you were still pissed they were winning.

“Yeah, but it’ll be an easy win.” He teased, wanting you to take the bait. “This looks far more interesting.”

“You’re not wrong.”  _Anything is better than this damned game right now,_ you thought.

To be honest, you had found several skeins of yarn in the perfect shade of gray to hide well enough in his living room. He always kept his apartment too cold for you and your were finally taking action to solve that problem. You were kind of hoping the game would keep his attention long enough for you to finish it up.

He ended up watching you more often than the game, mesmerized by how your hands could manipulate the material, and missed the walk-off double that cost the Yankees the game. By 6pm that evening, you had not only finished the blanket, but gotten Joe so worked up over the loss that you managed to hide it without him catching you.

That particular blanket had since been moved to the arm of his couch to use at your discretion, and for post-season cuddles  ~~and some other not so cuddly uses~~.

You had just cast off the last stitch of Joe’s hat when the captain announced your final approach to the airport.

Joe didn’t stir until you had safely tucked both beanies back into your carry-on, and the touch-down of the plane literally jerked him awake.

“Did you have a good nap, babe?”

“The best.” He let out a yawn. “ I dreamed I was still holding you and watching us create more things together.”

“Awe, Joseph, you sap.” You pressed a kiss to his cheek, feeling the hours-old stubble seemingly exfoliate your lips. “But we should prepare to get out of here, I’m ready for a nap now.”

“Whatever you say, baby.”

Getting off the plane and collecting your luggage was, thankfully, uneventful. Allowing you time to admire Joe while he guided the two of you through the airport. He’d chosen a very understated outfit for travelling, much like yourself. The black jacket, gray sweater, and dark jeans would look fantastic with the green of his hat. You couldn’t have planned this any better if you’d actually tried. 

Although you’d been travelling to Anaheim, a usually sunny locale, the weather had decided to take a turn for the frigid and windy as of late. As you walked towards the passenger pick up area, you turned to Joe and pulled him off to the side.

“You better put your hat on, babe. I don’t want the wind to mess with your ears while we’re here.”

“Baby, you’re wearing the only hat we have.” He looked puzzled, brows furrowing and lips pursing as he took in the sight of you in seemingly the only hat between the two of you.

“No I’m not.” You presented him with his own patch of knitted green. “This is for you. I hope the color is okay.”

He grabbed the swath of green from you and felt the material in his own hands.

“It’s perfect.” He leaned in to wrap you into a quick hug and gave you a chaste kiss. “Put it on for me?”

You nodded to let him know that you gladly would and stepped back to admire your handiwork. You had done an excellent job of choosing this color for Joe. He was a little pale from all the cloudy weather you’d been faced with for the last few months, so the jewel tone of the hat. coupled with his hair and stubble, was doing an excellent job of making his eyes stand out. You even noticed that the usually deep brown had flecks of green being pulled to the surface courtesy of your creation.

“I think this deserves at least one selfie, don’t you?” You’d almost missed the mischievous glint in his eyes from being lost in the depth of them.

“Are you sure Ben won’t be jealous?” Ben seemed to feel anytime you did something too cute with Joe. It was like he had a sixth sense about this, which was hilarious in all honesty. You were glad to see Joe so happy while interacting with any of his co-stars.

“Nah, he’s got Gwilym in London at the moment. I think he’s suitably distracted.” With that he pulled you into his embrace and snapped a pic while you were still laughing.

**@/joe_mazzello** : get you a girl that looks at you the way y/n looks at (the hat she made) me #shesthetalent #andthebeauty #lookatthatsmile

**Author's Note:**

> Just pretend the pic is not in the woods, okay? Thanks. I hope you enjoyed it! (If you’re curious, the teams I was thinking about as my #1 and #2 teams are the Astros and the Rangers, respectively.)


End file.
